Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory AffairsMichigan's new fireworks law allows these "consumer fireworks." Low-impact and novelty fireworks, like sparklers and fountains, have been and continue to be legal in Michigan.

KALAMAZOO, MI — A 38-year-old Kalamazoo woman was critically burned shortly before midnight Wednesday as she leaned over a firework to light it and it went off in her face.

Lt. Stan McDonald of the Kalamazoo Department of public safety said the woman and her husband were setting off fireworks at their home in the 1700 block of Hawk Dr., in a mobile home park off Stadium Drive. She suffered extensive second and third degree burns to her hands, arms, torso and face, and is listed in critical condition at Bronson Methodist Hospital, McDonald said.

The damage was inflicted by a single firework, he said, of the sort that shoots into the air and makes a noise — legal in Michigan for the first time this year. "As best we can tell it was one that would have been illegal prior to this change in law" that allows the sale of more powerful fireworks in Michigan this year, he said.

McDonald said alcohol is believed to have contributed to the cause of the accident.

Although the woman's blood alcohol level was not immediately available, witnesses said she had been drinking. "The use of alcohol is going to diminish common sense" and caution, McDonald said.

No one else was injured and no foul play is suspected, he said.

It is the first injury of this magnitude of the season, McDonald said. Earlier in the day, Kalamazoo Public Safety issued a reminder of the dangers of consumer fireworks and the need for extreme caution in their use.